Prosecutors today declined to say who was questioned regarding alleged forgery on petitions to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators, after Chinese-language media earlier reported that members of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Youth League were brought in for questioning.
The Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau confirmed that two people had been questioned, but did not disclose any further information about the ongoing investigation.
KMT Youth League members Lee Hsiao-liang (李孝亮) and Liu Szu-yin (劉思吟) — who are leading the effort to recall DPP caucus chief executive Rosalia Wu (吳思瑤) and Legislator Wu Pei-yi (吳沛憶) — both posted on Facebook saying: “I may be detained, but I will never surrender.”
Photo: CNA
TVBS News reported that prosecutors searched the residences of Lee and Liu this morning.
Last month, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) and others requested that the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office investigate suspected forgery of DPP legislator recall petitions.
Justin Wu claimed that in the KMT’s effort to recall DPP legislators, 30 to 40 percent of signatures were invalid, including more than 100 signatures from people already deceased.
The Central Election Commission today said that after checking 61 recall motions received in February, potential cases of forgery were found in 41 of them.
As of Friday last week, the commission had reported 39 of the cases to the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office, with the remaining two to be reported after all the information is compiled, it said.
Members of the public have questioned whether setting up recall petition signing booths on school campuses contravenes Article 86 of the Public Officials Election and Recall Act (公職人員選舉罷免法), which states that “recall offices ... shall not be established in government agencies or institutions, schools, legally established civil associations, places frequently used as polling stations or ballot counting stations, or any other public place.”
The commission said that a “recall office” refers to a campaign headquarters, which is different from petition sites, signing stalls or other activities.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
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